This orange cardamom olive oil cake recipe is simple, delicious, and laced with bold flavors of bright orange and fragrant cardamom! The use of olive oil makes for a superior moist texture and irresistibly rich taste.
I’m a big fan of using oranges in both sweet and savory recipes. A quick search of the site and you will find oranges used in my refreshing Mediterranean orange and pomegranate salad, hearty orange harissa lamb chops, and even mixed into red sangria! However, one of my favorite ways to use oranges is in desserts.
So, of course, when I wrote The Mediterranean Dish cookbook, I had to include this recipe for my citrusy orange olive oil cake! The perfect fusion of sweet and savory flavors, this olive oil cake recipe features bright, bold notes of orange along with a subtle sweetness and warm notes from the cardamom. One bite, and you’ll be hooked!
This is not your typical super sweet icing-topped cake. Due to the olive oil this cake stays moist and tender for days, which means it’s a good make ahead option for larger gatherings. It’s a delightful treat for holiday dinners, weekend brunch, and everything in between.
Table of Contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
This orange cardamom olive oil cake requires just a few baking staples, fresh oranges, and cardamom. Here’s everything you’ll need to bring it to life:
- Extra virgin olive oil: Good quality, fruity or more neutral-tasting olive oil like our California olive oil is perfect in this cake. Subtle and delicious, it helps enhance the orange flavor and provides moisture without overwhelming the taste of the cake.
- All-purpose flour: To form the base of the batter. You can use a 1:1 gluten-free flour alternative if needed. Your cake will be slightly more dense but just as scrumptious!
- Kosher salt: A crucial flavor enhancer, bringing out the natural taste of the rest of the ingredients.
- Baking powder: Used in combination with baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Sugar: Regular granulated sugar is my go-to here to magnify the sweetness of the orange.
- Ground cardamom: One of the more pungent spices in Mediterranean cooking, cardamom is a fairly warm spice with subtle lemony undertones that pair beautifully with orange, chocolate cake, and beyond!
- Eggs: Help provide structure to the cake.
- Orange: Both orange zest and orange juice are used for an utterly irresistible recipe.
- Milk: Use whole milk or a plant-based alternative to combine the ingredients and create a smooth batter.
- Confectioner’s sugar: Also called powdered sugar, this is technically optional but highly recommended for sprinkling on top to add a little extra sweetness and create a picture-worthy presentation.
How to Make Orange Cardamom Olive Oil Cake
Prepare a 9-inch round cake pan: To prevent the cake from sticking, brush the bottom and sides of the cake pan with olive oil. Then, line the bottom with a round of parchment paper, and dust it with a bit of flour. Just be sure to shake off any excess.
Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cardamom.
Beat the wet ingredients with sugar: Combine 1 ½ cups of the sugar, and eggs in a separate bowl, and using the highest setting on a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the ingredients until they are thick and fluffy. With the blades running, drizzle in the olive oil. Once it is fully incorporated, reduce the speed to low, and add ½ the orange zest, orange juice, and milk. Beat again until the ingredients are smooth.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients: Working slowly, incorporate the flour mixture into the bowl of wet ingredients. Mix on low just until you have a uniform batter, and be careful not to overmix! Otherwise, your cake will turn out dense and tough, and no one wants that!
Bake the cake: Pour the prepared olive oil cake batter into the pan, and sprinkle the top with the rest of the sugar. Bake until the center is set. It’s important to note that every oven bakes differently. So, be sure to keep a close eye on your cake, and begin checking it after 30 minutes! You’ll know it’s done baking when a skewer can be inserted into the center and comes out clean.
Cool and serve: Once removed from the oven, allow the orange olive oil cake to cool in the pan for 30 minutes. To ensure it comes out intact, run a small knife all the way around the edge of the pan. Then, invert the cake onto a large plate, and invert it once more, flipping it right side up onto a rack to finish cooling. To finish, a dust with powdered sugar and sprinkle a little orange zest.
Why Use Olive Oil in Cake
You know I love my olive oil! I’ve used it in recipes like my banana walnut bread, Italian apple olive oil cake and chocolate olive oil cake. However, I’m still asked quite frequently whether or not it can be used in baking.
To help answer your questions about olive oil, I wrote this extensive guide on How to Cook with Olive Oil. It’s a staple of the Mediterranean Diet and I will forever celebrate its value. If you want to go deep read that guide. For the short answer yes, you can bake cakes with olive oil and here’s why.
- Kept at room temperature, olive oil is a liquid and therefore adds unmatched levels of moisture to cake over time, allowing it to stay tender longer than if it was made with butter.
- Using any olive oil in place of butter reduces the amount of saturated fat found in the recipe. It replaces that fat with heart-healthy monounsaturated fat which can improve cholesterol among other benefits listed here.
- High-quality extra virgin olive oil adds a rich, slightly fruity flavor to this recipe without being overbearing.
That said, it’s extremely important to choose a high-quality olive oil with a flavor profile complementary to the other ingredients.
For instance, you don’t want a strong peppery olive oil like Early Harvest Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which is primarily used in savory recipes like my simple herb-tossed sweet potato recipe. Instead, opt for a fruity, delicately flavored variety like our California olive oil to enhance the sweet fruity flavors.
What to Serve with Orange Olive Oil Cake
Where I grew up, people love their tea time. This olive oil cake makes for the perfect sweet treat to accompany an afternoon cup of Arabic tea with fresh mint. Or, serve it at a cocktail party alongside carajillo, a Spanish spiked coffee drink.
Although this olive oil cake is fantastic as is a little something extra can really bring out the wow factor! Sometimes, I just can’t help myself!
For a truly show stopping dessert try:
- Add a dollop of whipped cream
- Dust with powdered sugar
- A spoonful of vanilla yogurt is always nice
- Top with fresh fruit such as orange segments, candied orange peels, blueberries, or even cranberries for a festive twist! Yum!
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Orange Cardamom Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, fruity, more neutral-tasting, plus extra for the pan
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 ½ cups plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- Grated zest of 2 oranges, plus 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk or plant-based alternative
- 2 tablespoons sifted confectioners’ sugar, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the oven: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare the baking pan: Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan with a little olive oil. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper and dust with a bit of the flour, shaking out the excess.
- Mix together dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Beat the wet ingredients with sugar: In a large bowl, combine the 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, cardamom, and eggs. Using an electric hand mixer set on high, beat the mixture until thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a stand mixer on high speed). While the mixer is running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and beat until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and add half the orange zest, the orange juice, and milk. Beat until smooth.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients: Add the flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix on low just until you have a uniform batter.
- Bake the cake: Pour the cake batter into the pan and sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the center is set and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean (ovens do vary, so check your cake at 30 minutes and go from there).
- Cool the cake: Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then run a small knife around the edge, invert the cake onto a large plate, then invert again onto a rack to cool completely.
- Serve: Before serving, dust the cake with powdered sugar and sprinkle with orange zest.
Video
Notes
- Make ahead. Olive oil keeps cakes tender and moist for longer, which makes this recipe an easy choice for holiday menu planning. Make it a day or to in advance and it will still taste fresh when your guests arrive.
- Olive oil is truly wonderful in baking recipes, but you want to use the right kind because olive oil is as nuanced as wine. You want something mild and fruity for this cake like our California Arbequina olive oil. Stay away from spicy or peppery flavors like our Spanish Hojiblanca olive oil. I prefer to use that in more savory dishes.
- Swap it. If you don’t have cardamom on hand try cinnamon. It’s a natural pairing with orange. You can try it in our Orange Cinnamon Challah French Toast recipe.
- Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils, spices, and more.
Oh My I made this cake tonight! It is so delicious! I may be entering this into our county fair!
Best of luck! Be sure to stop back and share the results!
Ciao Suzy, Love this recipe, really appreciate your thoughtful explanations..have made it a few times and never disappoints. Cheers from Edmonton, Canada
Thank you so much, Jim!
Can this recipe be made into cupcakes?
Hi, Denise. With a some adjustments, I’m sure you could! We’ve never tried it ourselves, so if you give it a go, we’d love to hear how it worked for you and any feedback you have.
If I use blood orange olive oil instead of plain olive oil, do I need to decrease the amount of orange juice or orange zest called for in the recipe? Thanks in advance!
Hi, Laura! I’m Summer and I work here at The Mediterranean Dish. Go right ahead and use the blood orange olive oil and make the recipe as written. No need to reduce the amount of juice or zest called for in the recipe!
This is the bomb! My family is not used to my Mediterranean Dish cooking, yet, so are a bit skeptical. But this cake is absolutely wonderful! It stayed moist and flavorful for several days. Yummy!
Absolutely delicious and tender. The only thing is it took more like an hour and 20 minutes not 40 minutes.
Could you replace a lemon for the orange with the same ingredients?
Hi, Teresa! I’m Summer and I work with Suzy at The Mediterranean Dish. Yes, you can replace the orange with lemon and the cake will still taste amazing!
Does the kind of orange matter? We have a bunch of mandarin oranges (those little sweeter ones). Can I use those? Would I need to adjust the sugar amount to counterbalance that these oranges are sweeter? Or should I just got buy other oranges?
Hi, Ranya! I’m Summer and I work with Suzy here at The Mediterranean Dish. You can use Mandarin oranges. I would say to use the zest from 4 of them and you wouldn’t need to adjust the sugar content at all. Just proceed with the recipe as written. I hope you love it! It’s a favorite around here!
Thank you! One more question, can I use candied zest as the decorating/topping after its baked?
Whipped this up oh no time just because it’s been on my mind for weeks now. It came out better than I expected, even better than my mom’s cakes and her cakes are good. Thank you for this recipe, will definitely be making this again and again!!
My daughter loves an olive oil orange cake so I thought I’d try this one. As one person commented, it does make a lot of batter, but I was able to fit it in the 9″ pan. It was filled to the rim. I put the pan on a cookie sheet, and I’m so glad I did. The cake rose enough to spill over the edge. Any advice or comments as to what might have gone wrong? I followed the recipe exactly.
It’s hard to say, Cathy, as we didn’t experience this when testing the recipe. I would say, just put slightly less batter in the pan next time. Maybe that will help a bit.
I had this same problem and will use a 9″ springform pan next time.
I wonder if people experiencing the thin batter didn’t beat the eggs and sugar long enough. If you beat them the full 5 minutes they are much thicker. Just a thought. Mine is in the oven now but my batter didn’t seem excessively thin when I poured it in the springform pan.
So delicious! We used cinnamon instead of cardamom and is excellent. Super moist and easy to make.
Thanks, Morgan! We appreciate the great review!
Absolutely terrific! It is so moist and delish!
Thanks, Melissa! We appreciate your review.
Wow is all I can say. Gorgeous cake – moist and delicious. I dehydrated orange slices to serve alongside and that was a big hit with our guests. Also, a small scoop of vanilla ice cream completed the flavour palate. Will definitely make this again.
PS: I made it a week in advance and froze. Thawed perfectly and taste was not affected in the least.
Thanks so much for sharing, Kelly!
This was so good. Super impressed by this one. You can go heavy on cardamom if you’d like but otherwise it’s perfect. My family said it’s their new favorite.
There is waaaay too much batter for a 9″ round. It easily filled my bundt pan which holds a lot of volume. Also, it appears to be short on flour. I mixed it and it was *far* too liquid to use as batter. I stirred in extra flour until it was a runny batter. As others said, it took a longer to bake, but that’s no big deal. It is moist and delicious. I would recommend serving with a dollop of (dairy-free) whipped cream to be a little fancier.
Hi, Kels. Thanks so much for the feedback. We didn’t have these issues, but will take another look at the recipe.
The cake is cooling and smells amazing.
How do I store it and how long does it stay fresh? Sorry if I missed that info. Thanks!
Hi, Karla! I’m Summer and I work with Suzy here at TMD. Olive oil cakes tend to stay fresh and moist longer than butter cakes. You can store it covered at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also keep it in the fridge if you prefer and it will keep a day or two longer. Just make sure you bring it to room temp before enjoying your next slice.